India starts trial transshipment using Mongla port

India has begun trial transshipment of goods through Mongla port to send to its northeast states using the Bangladesh roads.

Bangladesh flag-bearing cargo vessel MV Rishad Rayhan carried the goods in two containers from Kolkata port on August 1 and reached the Mongla port on Monday (August 8).

Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa, chairman of the Mongla Port Authority inaugurated the transshipment in presence of an assistant high commissioner of India to Bangladesh on Monday.

In two containers, the vessel carried 16.38 tonnes of iron pipes in 70 packages and 8.5 tonnes of prefoam in 249 packages.

This is the first of four trial runs which will be conducted over the next few months.

The cargo ship is now waiting for a trial run on the Mongla-Tamabil and Mongla-Bibirbazar (in Cumilla) routes.

One of the containers will go to India’s Meghalaya state through Tamabil while another will go to India’s Assam through Bibirbazar border, said the port authority.

In October 2018, a deal was signed between the two countries to transport goods through Chattogram and Mongla ports from India’s northeastern states.

The decision to conduct the trial run was taken after the 13th Bangladesh-India Joint Group of Customs (JGC) meeting held in March 2022.

According to the port authority, an agreement and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) regarding the use of Mongla Port for transportation of goods from India has been signed between the two countries.